Danger
by Crafty-Kitsune201
Summary: This story is based off of the manga which is nothing like the live action; the manga is way better. This story takes place after Mizuki returns to the states; Taiki has a disturbing dream that shows Mizuki is in danger! What will Sano do about it?
1. Taiki's Disturbing Discovery

Hey, I'm not aspiring to be a writer but it is a huge part of my life and my favorite hobby, so please give me some feedback so I know how to improve or what you think I'm already doing right. As the description said this story is based on the manga and almost everyone mentioned in the manga is mentioned somewhere in here although not all will have a huge part, some don't even speak at all but they are there. Keep on the look out for characters you know and like.

Chapter 1: Taiki's disturbing discovery

Taiki woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. He put his hand over his heart; it felt as if his heart was about to bound out of his chest. Then he gripped his temples and felt bitter tears fall from his eyes. He didn't know whether what he had just witnessed was reality or just a horrible nightmare. He shuddered as flashbacks filled his eyes.

He had found himself surrounded by darkness as a knot formed in his stomach. He had a bad feeling but couldn't place his finger on it. He began walking though he couldn't see he did not want to stay there. Suddenly he saw a flashlight being carried by a man that seemed to be the same age as him. He followed the man, wondering "why am I here; what's the point of this place" He heard a scream and the man with the flashlight picked up his pace to a sprint. Taiki followed closely. They approached a door and the man pushed through it so hard that the door hit the wall and came closed in a matter of seconds. Taiki stopped at the door and tried to open it but his hand went through the door "what the…" he paused and went through the door. It was like he was the ghost this time. As he entered he heard the man yelling "I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut." Taiki directed his attention to the subject of the shouting. He saw a young girl, about his age, with brown hair that covered her face as she lay slouched on the floor in what seemed to be a raggedy old school uniform covered in dried blood. She was taking deep breaths as if she was prepping to scream again. Taiki had a feeling he had met her somewhere before but he couldn't place when or where. The man grabbed her by her hair, forcing her to stand. As he did so, she began to struggle, she was pushed him away and fell back to the floor and when the man got closer she began kicking, screaming, biting, and punching at the mysterious man. The man walked away seeming to have given up but he simply walked over to a suitcase, took a needle, filled it will some liquid, Taiki couldn't distinguish at the moment. He carried it back to the girl smiling evilly. The girl readied herself for a second attack but before she got a chance for her retaliation he grabbed her head again, but instead of making her stand, forced her head back into the wall behind her as hard as he could, disorienting her long enough for him to stick the long needle in her arm. "Like that" he said mockingly "that outta calm you down" his grin widened "after all, it is Roofenol."

Taiki had seen enough; he rushed to help the girl but once again as he tried to make contact with something physical he just went right through. As he was focused on the man, whose face he had finally been able to see, he heard the girl's voice mumbling about something. "What is it he thought" Just then the girl looked up toward him and the hair fell out of her face. Now he knew where he had met her before. She was the only female student to go to Osaka Gakuen, Mizuki Ashiya. Seeing her face as she began to cry, "Taiki… help me" she screamed and the shock brought him back into reality. He woke up.

"Please tell me that that was just a dream' he thought to himself. He looked at his alarm clock. It read 3:28. "Damn," he thought as he laid back down hoping to get at least an hour more sleep but he dreaded the thought of that nightmare and the possibility of having it again. Plus he can't tell Nakatsu about it because now that they are seniors they have their own rooms. He lay down and with much difficulty managed to fall asleep.

It happened again. He found himself surrounded by darkness, but this time he didn't wait for a flashlight or a scream. He ran straight to the room where he had been before. What happened was startling him. At least if it was the same dream it could mean if wasn't reality, but it was different this time meaning these could be actual events but Taiki didn't understand why he was seeing them. The mysterious man from before was sitting right next to Mizuki, who was still out of it due to the Roofenol. "So where's your crush now" he said with a smirk. "Where's Sano? If he loved you he'd be here. He doesn't care about you. He's probably already found someone new. Why would he care for someone as pathetic as you?" Taiki had heard enough. "Don't listen to him" Taiki shouted, "don't listen to him" he shouted again, straining to be heard. "Don't listen to him" but Taiki's shouts fell on deaf ears. Mizuki was crying but even though she didn't hear Taiki she still agreed with him. "You're lying" She said with a scratchy voice. "You're lying" her voice rose to a shout and once again everything went dark as Taiki awoke in his dark room. The clock read 5:40.

"Taiki?" he heard a voice say in the darkness of his own room. It was Nakatsu. "How'd you get in here" Taiki asked. "I broke in because I heard you screaming" he said, pointing to the door. "What happened?" but Taiki didn't answer his question, "go wake up Sano" he ordered, already starting to get dressed. "What? It's not even six" Nakatsu questioned until he saw the serious look on Taiki's face as he glared at him, "just go" he said and Nakatsu went to go wake up Sano. Nakatsu and Taiki were still neighbors even though they weren't roommates anymore but Sano was several doors down. Taiki finished getting dressed and went to go wash his face but as he looked in the mirror he didn't see just one reflection. He saw two. "Mizuki?" he shouted in alarm. He had mixed emotions but the emotion that stood out the most was sorrow. Even though he could see Mizuki, something was different. Before, when he saw a ghost, they at least looked solid in some way but, Mizuki was faded, as if he was looking at her shadow and she wasn't really there at all. "Mizuki" he said again, this time directed towards her. She looked him in the eye as her vision became blurred by tears. "Help me please. Pleases, please help me!" she began to beg as she fell down to her knees. Taiki walked over to her. He said "I will" and just like that she vanished and Nakatsu walked in with Sano following behind. "What happened" Sano said with a worried tone. He knew that if Taiki woke him up this early it couldn't be good. Once again Taiki dodged the question, "I think we need more people, come with me" he said walking out the door. "What are you doing" Sano asked, annoyed that his question went unanswered "on second thought, you two go get dressed; I am going to wake up Sekime, Noe, and Nakao. Meet me at the computer lab" He walked off and Sano along with Nakatsu went to get dressed.

Sano and Nakatsu made it to the computer lab in ten minutes flat. When, they got there Noe and Sekime were just as confused as they were while Nakao was busy complaining about missing out on his beauty sleep. Taiki was at one of the computers typing stuff in a search engine. "What are you looking up" Nakatsu asked. Taiki seemed solemn. "It's about Mizuki, I have a bad feeling" suddenly everyone understood and was on high alert. Sano peaked over his shoulder to see what he was typing. First he searched "Mizuki Ashiya" but way too many links came up so he tried "Mizuki Ashiya America" and found several links that mentioned the right Mizuki but not what might have happened. So he tried "America Mizuki Ashiya kidnapped" and that did it. He got several links to newspapers and news channels. He checked every one of those links hoping for more information. The first headline read "Mizuki missing" and Sano nearly fell over when he saw those words. It was already eight o' clock and everyone was ready to go. They wanted to get to America as soon as possible.


	2. To America

Chapter 2: To America

They rushed out of the computer lab and down the hall, until they bumped into Umeda-sensei. "Where are you boys in such a hurry to" "it's Mizuki!" Noe yelled, hoping to go ahead and leave. "Mizuki? What happened?" They weren't as shocked as they would have been originally since they all know how Umeda-sensei kept the secret that Mizuki was a girl. "Mizuki was kidnapped by someone in America and we are going to go find her" Sano explained. Umeda-sensei seemed to ponder that for a second then pointed out, "you know you'll get expelled if you leave without a chaperone." Everyone was speechless but they were adamant. They would go see Mizuki no matter what. Just then Umeda-sensei took out his phone and called someone, "sorry I can't come in today, there has been a change of plans; I am chaperoning for a group of students on their way to America." He then hung up and started walking to the exit "aren't you coming" he said over his shoulder. And they followed as Umeda-sensei continued to call someone else thinking, "she'll kill me if she finds out later and I didn't tell her"

They got on a bus and moments later arrived at the airport. Nakatsu and Sano were surprised to see who was waiting for them out front while everyone else had no clue who she was except Umeda-sensei who called her. "Io-san? What are you doing here?" Nakatsu asked. Io looked to Umeda "Hokuto called me" she said simply "I'm here to help" She turned around and started walking towards the door. "The others are waiting inside" she added "others?" Sekime questioned. But she didn't clarify, she continued walking inside, "are you going to stand there all day; I thought we were going to save Mizuki" After she said that everyone ran to catch up to her. When they got inside they saw what she meant by 'others.' Nanba-sempai, Rio, Kujou-sempai, Tennouji- sempai, and Kadoma were all their and ready to go searching. "How did you all find out about Mizuki?" Taiki asked almost indifferent but grateful for the help. Nanba-sempai explained, "After Uncle called mom, she called me and I called Rio since I knew Rio was friends with Mizuki. When I called Rio she happened to be in the room with Kanna who informed Tennouji while he was practicing karate with Kujou and Kadoma. And that is how we all found out." "Okay, but how did you beat us here" Nakao asked, catching everyone of guard that he actually questioned something Nanba-sempai said rather than worshipped him after not seeing each other in such a long time. "It's obviously because we were already closer to the airport than you were when we found out; that and Io-san drives so fast I thought we would all get killed" Tennouji explained practically shivering from the memories in the car. Then suddenly Kadoma shouted like he had never done before, "are we going to stand here all day or are we going to go find Mizuki?" Sano had been thinking that for quite a while and was seconds away from shouting himself so he just started walking over to the ticket counter followed by Kadoma and then everyone else. "I hope everyone has jackets" Io-san told everyone, "because it's winter in America and we aren't stopping to get any."

Amazingly they all managed to get plain tickets, even though the flight left in an hour, "thank god" thought Sano. "I guess it's a good thing that it's a low travel time of the year." Just then it struck him. "Shit" he forgot to tell his coach and there was another meet today. He didn't mean he would have deviated from his path to the airport to hunt down his coach and tell him, but he had meant to call and it was too late once they got on the plane because his phone had to be turned off.

At the meet, people took notice that he wasn't there, especially Shin. "Where's Sano," Sin asked Sano's coach the first time he saw him. Kagurazaka came up from behind and echoed his question then followed with slight sarcasm "and I haven't seen his 'biggest fan' around either." The coach answered that "if you mean Mizuki, SHE's no longer a student here." "She?" Kagurazaka and shin said in sync. "Yes, 'she' rumors started to spread and she apparently decided the lies had to stop somewhere, so she told the truth and left of her own free will." Kagurazaka and shin nearly fell over when they heard that. Just then one of Sano's teammates came and told them, "Sano is on his way to America" "What?" Shin and Kagurazaka both said starting to get pissed at each other for their synchronization. "yeah" the teammate clarified, "Him along with several others all left with Umeda-sensei earlier today; when they found out the Mizuki was in trouble in America" "What?" Shin yelled, ready to snap. "What happened?" "I don't know I think she was kidnapped or something like that" Shin grew even angrier when he saw and heard the indifference of the guy. But the shock of the news was too much for him and he fell to his knees. "What's wrong, Shin" he heard his father, Sano Takehiko, say from behind. Shin got up and ran to his father saying "I have to go to America now!" his father dared not refuse after seeing the urgency in his eyes. "Fine! But you have to explain to me what happened when we get on the plane" Shin nodded and Kagurazaka said he was going to come too. More and more people were heading to America.

While on the plane, Kagurazaka, Shin and Mr. Sano found out what exactly happened to Mizuki when they found a video on YouTube of the alleged kidnapping from a surveillance camera across the street:

Mizuki was walking down the street with Julia, they were both smiling and laughing until someone came out of the shadows in an alley and dragged them in. Julia was thrown hard against the wall while the man held onto Mizuki's wrists and tried to shut her up while she continued to struggle and Julia was unable to move paralyzed by a fear she had never felt before. Her brilliant blonde hair was turning red with blood from the impact when she hit the wall. Mizuki was thrown to the ground and the attacker took out a gun. "You should have behaved" the man said with a grin as he pointed the gun at Julia and prepared to shoot. But just as he fired Mizuki ran to gun point blocking Julia. Two bullets his Mizuki right in the stomach and the attacker found he was out of bullets. So he walked up to Julia grabber her head and forced it back into the wall behind her then forced her to look at him eye to eye as she struggled to say "what do you want with me" "nothing" the attacker answered "you should be dead those bullets were meant for you" he released her and she fell to the ground. The attacker then ran over to Mizuki picked her up off the ground and ran off.

Mr. Sano was in horror of what he saw and questioned what Izumi and Shin along with himself were getting into. "Who exactly is Mizuki to you and Izumi" He asked since Shin was obviously not going to turn around and go back to Japan. Shin hesitated, unsure whether he should tell his father or not but concluded that he would probably find out eventually so he told him "Mizuki was Sano's roommate for three years" His father was speechless and starting to get angry, "what kind of school is Osaka that they actually let him room with a girl" He thought. Then he commented, "So that girl was Izumi's roommate for three years" Shin could hear the tension in his voice. "Yeah I guess you could say that" he interceded "but she was more than a roommate" Mr. Sano didn't like the sound of that. So shin decided he better explain further before his father lost it, "She started as brother's best friend although I think he's fallen in love with her. She is the one that made brother and I actually sit down and talk. If it wasn't for her we might still be fighting and furthermore she is also the one that made brother go to the hospital that time… Mizuki is the reason we are all able to get along again" he said with a sigh. Then looking downcast added, "I can see why he fell for her" then everything made sense to Mr. Sano. Both of his sons loved this girl and she was capable of amazing things. Bringing their family back together was a miracle so he believed he should bet on the miracle that they would be able to save her. "What if we're too late" Shin said mostly to himself but catching Mr. Sano out of his own thoughts. Mr. Sano reached over, ruffled his hair and said "don't worry we'll find her." The fact that his father said that somehow made him feel better. Meanwhile, Kagurazaka who was seated right behind them was for once completely quiet. He didn't know what to say, he didn't like Mizuki romantically but he admired her spunk.

As soon as they landed in Berkley California, Mr. Sano got a call from his wife, Kasumi, "how's the competition" She asked. "I wouldn't know" he replied. She could tell something was wrong by the worry in his voice. "What do you mean" She persisted but they were pressed for time to try and find the others so he just gave the vague details, A friend of Izumi and shin has been kidnapped so we are in America right now to try and help find her" "oh my goodness! Where in America are you" She asked. "We're in Berkley, California. Why?" Mr. Sano asked. "I'm on my way." She answered and then hung up before he could protest the dangerousness of the situation. "Dad!" Shin yelled running towards him. He had been asking around to find out where Mizuki lived, since he figured that was where the others headed. "I found someone who will show us the way" Kagurazaka was standing next to the guy that Shin pointed to. He had blonde hair and green eyes. "Hi, I'm Gilbert" he said solemnly. "I heard about Mizuki and was heading to her house anyway" "I see… so you are a friend of Mizuki" Mr. Sano clarified. He nodded and led the way. Gilbert had had no idea what Shin was talking about until he mentioned Mizuki. Gilbert still can't speak Japanese so when Shin originally asked him to show the way, he didn't know what to do. He was really glad to find out that Mr. Sano could speak English.


	3. The Search Party and the Call

Chapter 3: Search party and the call

They arrived at Mizuki's house thirty minutes later. Gilbert knocked on the door and a tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes that were red and puffy from crying so much. "What's the news, Shizuki" Gilbert asked. Shizuki let out a huge sigh as fresh tears began to fill his eyes. "The cops" he began with a shaky voice as he tried to choke down a sob, "have already started looking for a body" he looked as if he was about to have a nervous breakdown. He covered his eyes in grief, "they have already given up hope." Gilbert took care of introductions, by this point fully aware he had agreed to show the way for Sano, his enemy's family, but it was his love for Mizuki that made him push his rivalry with Sano aside since he wished to find Mizuki as fast as possible. "This is Kagurazaka, Shin, and Mr. Sano; everyone this is Mizuki's older brother, Shizuki Ashiya." Shizuki wiped his eyes and said, "Thanks for your help; I refuse to believe all hope is lost" and with that last glimmer of hope he managed to smile. And they nodded as Shizuki let them in and led them to the living room where everyone was excluding Izumi and Taiki who were looking at a map of the city on the dining room table. "What is brother up to" Shin asked. "He's working with Taiki to try and figure out where she most likely is" Noe said. "Why are you all just sitting around" Kagurazaka asked angrily. "We're waiting for Mr. Ashiya to get off the phone and tell us what the police say, then we are planning on splitting into teams of two or three and go searching." Nakatsu explained testily just before Mr. Ashiya made his way in from the kitchen with a frown adamant on his face. "Well the police and I have come up with an agreement after I told them how many people have come to help out. The police force will take the north face of the city and we will take the south. I have already talked to Eiko and I promised her Mizuki would be here waiting for her when she got out of the hospital so we won't give up." "Eiko?" Shin questioned. "That's Mizuki's mom" Gilbert explained. "She collapsed from a mixture of worry, exhaustion, and stress; so she literally worried herself sick" "Ok so let's split up." They split up into groups of three or four because they didn't know who they were dealing with…

Group 1: Sano, Taiki, Kagurazaka, and Shin

Group 2: Nanba, Nakatsu, and Nakao

Group 3: Noe, Sekime, and Rio

Group 3: Tennouji, Kujou, Kadoma

Group 4: Io, Takehiko (Sano's dad) and Takumi (Mizuki's dad)

Group 5: Umeda, Rio, Shizuki and Gilbert

After deciding groups they divided up areas of Berkley. Nakao was stoked with the pairing; he knew that Nanba-sempai didn't like him the same way Nakao liked him but he still admired and respected him. However, Shizuki hated the pairing, since he's a homo-phoebe and was paired with Umeda. But he would endure it for his cute little sister, he thought to himself. Everyone was given a list of where to go because some places had already been checked out. Sano's group was going as fast as they could and as thoroughly as they could since Sano made it perfectly clear that he would run off ahead on his own. And if the Scooby-doo principle had anything to do with it he would be the one to run into the villain. They went to everywhere on the list and came up empty handed. Sano was just about at his wits end so they all began to head to the meeting place to discuss just in case something was missed or overlooked. "Shit" thought Sano. He felt like a complete and total failure.

Meanwhile, Mizuki lay half unconscious on the ground of wherever she was being held, and then she began to hear Sano's voice. She didn't know if she was imagining or what but it was comforting. "don't worry" echoed in her head, "I'm going to find you" she hoped that wasn't just her dreams voicing themselves and that Sano really had come all the way to America to find her. She was beginning to come back to her senses again, as the Roofenol wore off. She looked around feeling pain with every slight move. He wasn't there but she noticed that something was; her attacker had left his phone on the table at the far left of the room. His phone meant both that he could be back any minute and… if you could get to it she can call for help. She struggle to get to her feet, gasping for breath. She had never felt so weak even when she was nearly raped by Makita at the Hayama Chalet. She made it to her feet and slowly limped to the table as fast as she could. "Come on" she thought to herself "go faster" She limped across the room. Her hands were tied behind her back now and her right leg was chained to the wall, so with every clank of chains on the floor she expected him to burst in. The news was on so her attacker could see if they were catching onto him, she memorized the number for the news station and turned off the TV. Once she made it to the table she turned her back to it and felt around for the phone. Suddenly she heard footsteps and began to panic. She started practically bounding back to her original place. She lost her footing and face planted onto the ground. But made it back to her spot, she rolled over and managed to get into a sitting position as the man walked in and she began to feel the buttons to dial the memorized number.

Everyone was crowded into the living room at the Ashiya residence and tried to come up with more strategy, when Nakao got up and walked over to the television. "You're going to watch TV at a time like this" Nakatsu said incredulously, "I'm turning on the news" Nakao said defensively and Nakatsu backed down. As soon as the TV was turned on they were already hearing about the kidnapping, the news had been talking about it all week.

A few minutes later they started taking phone calls from people with anonymous tips. But the forth one they took was quiet at first and they thought it was a prank till they heard a girls voice, "What do you want with me." Sano knew immediately who it was, "Mizuki" he gasped, and everyone went wide eyed. "What do you mean what do I want?" a man's voice said chuckling, "I want you to pay" "for what" Mizuki questioned, "where am I" "What does it matter where you are," he scoffed, "no one will ever find you. Didn't you know they have already started looking for a body?" Mizuki didn't even flinch, "where am I" she questioned again. Whoever the other person was shrugged off the question this time so she rose her voice, "why does it matter where you are; no one will hear you. Not even that guy you cared so much about you turned my brother down, what was his name" he paused "Sano something wasn't it, you think he actually cares about you; he doesn't care!" Sano clenched his jaw and his hand became a fist. "I he cared about you so much" the man continued, "Where is he; why isn't he here. If he cared about you why wasn't he here to protect you" the man taunted but Mizuki paid no attention to the taunting. "Where am I" she said again escalating to a scream. "You can scream and shout all you want" the man told her, "This room is sound proof." "Sound proof huh" Mizuki answered. "So that would mean if I'm still in town, I'm either in some tricked out basement or the more logical location, based on my surroundings; I at the abandoned factory on the opposite side of town from where you attacked me" She deduced smugly. Sano, Taiki, and several others ran out the door to go to the factory. But after the left the man got smart, "what is with all these questions" he shouted. "Wait" he paused, "What's behind your back" he grimaced. Once he caught sight of it, "You Bitch" he yelled at top of his lungs. All anyone heard after that was a lot of things smashing and breaking then the phone went to static. At that point anyone who already hadn't ran out of the house got their asses in gear.


	4. The Rescue

Chapter 4: the rescue

When they got there the police were already there. Taiki had found the room that Mizuki was held in. It was the room from his dream. The police were rummaging through the remnants of what was there, but what wasn't there was Mizuki. "So close" Sano muttered under his breath. "Where's Mizuki" Her father asked one of the cops. "not here" he replied with a sigh, "but she definitely was" The cop turned and started walking towards the entrance to the factory, "follow me" Mr. Ashiya followed with Sano close behind. "only family should come to the crime scene at the moment" the cop said but Sano wouldn't hear of it, "I'm coming" he said sternly, Mr. Ashiya backed him up, "he is my daughter's boyfriend and I'm sure she'd want him to be as family." So the cop allowed him to enter after all. Once they got there, they saw forensics and detectives all over the place and the place seemed to be really trashed but what stood out the most were the various blood stains all over the room, most likely Mizuki's. "Did you find out what chemical was in the disposed needles" forensics professional yelled to another. "Yes" She said with her eyes locked on Mr. Ashiya. She walked over to him, "sorry" she said but he disregarded it, "what about needles?" he asked. She sighed and held up the needle, "this needle was used to drug your daughter with Roofenol." Mr. Ashiya couldn't believe it but Sano on the other hand needed clarification, "Roofenol?" he asked and the forensic nurse explained, "Roofenol is considered the most common of all date rape drugs; it can have sedative, hypnotic, dissociative, and amnesiac effects, and can be added to a food or drink without the victim's knowledge although in this case it was put directly into her. Mr. Ashiya shuddered at the thought but his thoughts were interrupted when one of the other forensics shouted, "hey, we found something over here" The forensics nurse they had been talking to walked over to him. "What is it?" Sano and Mr. Ashiya listened in on what they had found, "This blood stain right here is not like the others, it is definitely not Mizuki's blood" "…but no one else has been in here" the other one pointed out "…except" he added and the forensics dude that found the blood fill in the blank, "except the attacker" he seemed excited with annoyed Sano who couldn't understand everything they were saying, "We now have some of the attackers DNA for sure, which means we can find out who's it is and hopefully figure out where he might be heading." Sano now got it and he was sure as hell not going to let them shut him out now. "I want to come with you to the lab" he stated but the forensics didn't know what to do. The cop came up behind you can ride with us there but you have to wait outside the testing room and Sano agreed; he wanted to be one of the first to find out what they could from the blood sample.

They got back outside and headed to the mob of people who ran from the house to tell them the good news and the bad news. Mizuki is not here and they don't know where she is, but they have a blood sample of the attacker so they can figure out who he is. Sano rode in the cop car and the others followed close behind. As soon as they got to the hospital and went inside they heard screaming; one of the patients was freaking out, "I have to find her" she yelled. No one knew for a fact who exactly the patient was talking about with no signs of relation to Mizuki until Nakatsu said, "that voice sounds familiar" and no sooner had he said that than Julia burst out of the room in nothing but a patients gown. She had tears in her eyes and was bandaged up quite a bit, "I don't have time for this crap" she yelled and saw everyone else outside her room. "Sano" she said under her breath and froze, "when did you get here" "never mind that" Sano said. "if you want to help find Mizuki go get dressed; we are waiting for forensics results." Julia calmed down, went back in her room and shut the door. Moments later she came out ready for action and the forensics had the report ready. "We found a match" they said happily since it was usually a lot harder and took longer but since the attacker had just gotten out of juvy it was relatively easy. "his name is Tokito Kurasora and he was just recently released from juvy. But why he went after Mizuki; I have no clue" Taiki chimed in, "Didn't he say something about his brother being turned down by Mizuki; could he have something to do with it" But a nurse who happened to be walking by and heard what they were talking about interceded, "if you are talking about Keito Kurasora, then it's impossible" "what do you mean" Taiki asked and she just bluntly said, "he's dead; he fell off a bridge about a month ago and cracked his head open at the bottom of the river." Everyone just looked at the nurse and no one said a thing for a moment, "However," the nurse continued, "I'm not saying that he couldn't have anything to do with Mizuki's abduction; the fall was an accident but his brother is probably out for revenge on Mizuki, thinking that it was suicide and Mizuki's fault." Suddenly all the pieces were coming together. "Where do you think he might be heading" Sano asked the nurse but she just shook her head "that I honestly have no clue." She said. Julia was sick of standing around by this time, "Are you just going to stand here all day or are you going to go find Mizuki!" she shouted then she turned her attention to the cops standing nearby, "Check the surveillance cameras of every surrounding building and see what kind of car the mother f***er was driving." Next she looked to all the forensics, "go back to the factory also and see if there is anything else to be dug up that might give us a clue to where they went!" "what about us" Noe asked meekly after seeing that she's snapped. "All of you will split up into search party teams and go look for her" "we already tried that" Sekime pointed out. She glared at him, "then try again!" she said angrily. She was really displeased with the team she was put on; she was with Nakao, Nanba, and Nakatsu. She didn't care one way or the other for Nakao, but she couldn't help but fight with Nakatsu about everything and Nanba, in her perspective would probably try flirting with her again.

Three hours of searching passed until someone contacted her. Also to Julia's amazement she wasn't having any trouble dealing with Nakatsu and Nanba. Her phone began to ring, "hello? Julia?" it was Mr. Ashiya. He sounded out of breath, like he was in the middle of a marathon. "What's going on?" Julia questioned. "The cops found the car; you were right there was a picture of it on surveillance" Mr. Ashiya told her but she could care less about being right at the moment, all that mattered was that they found Mizuki "Where are you right now" "We're running down university avenue." He yelled into the phone and hung up. Julia called everyone else in her group together and told them the news. They all ran to find Mizuki.

They caught up really easily when one of the cops that Julia had ordered to go back to the factory pulled over and offered them a ride. "where are we going" Nakatsu asked "Not entirely sure at the moment; the car we were tailing got away from us." "What" everyone screamed in unison, "how did that happen?" Julia shouted incredulously. "I don't quite know myself" He responded and just as he said that a voice came over his radio, "we found him." It was one of the people in charge of checking surveillance videos. "the car went down a dirt path on the north side of town, across from Northwood hills apartments." "We're on our way" The cop replied. When they got to the dirt path they turned and followed it for quite some time. Julia saw someone sprinting toward the house, shortcutting through the woods. It was Sano; he had already caught up. Julia told the cop to pull over and she called out to Sano. He went over to Julia and got in the car. "Thanks for the ride now step on it" he said forcefully.

Sano became more worried by the minute. The further they went the more black smoke filled the air, "What the…" they all thought. Then they saw the source. There was a small cabin in the woods and it was on fire. The van everyone had been searching for was driving off. As soon as the cop car came to a stop Sano jumped out and rushed into the burning building, "Mizuki" he yelled. Burnt pieces of wood were falling as he opened every door, the final door he opened led downstairs.. Three people showed up behind him it was his team, Shin, Kagurazaka and Taiki all equally pissed he had ran down on his own. They all followed the stairs down to the basement where he saw her, Mizuki, chained to the wall.

Sano stood in the doorway, blocking the others path to Mizuki. His mouth was open in shock at her condition. Mizuki was pale, her lips even more so and her beautiful brown hair was wild and unkempt, her clothes were the same ones from the video and were now very tattered and torn. Mizuki, herself, was covered in cuts, bruises, and dried blood. She lay on the ground unmoving and chained to the wall behind her, "oh God" he thought to himself and ran to her. He wanted to hug her, to hold her tight and never let go, and most of all to tell her everything would be alright. But he knew first they had to get her unchained and out of there before the whole building collapsed on them. Taiki took out his phone to call 911 and then Takumi. Kagurazaka used a skill befitting to his troublemaking personality, he picked the lock on the chains. Sano picked her up; she was completely limp in his arms. "S-Sano" she mumbled quietly in a scratched up voice, he almost didn't hear her but he did and held her even tighter, "that's right, I'm here" he told her and tears of joy began to flow down her cheeks however she couldn't hold him back as she wished. She couldn't move or feel anything and within five more seconds she slipped back into unconsciousness. When they emerged from the cabin an ambulance was waiting for them. "When we get to the hospital we need to call, Takumi" Taiki said, "but I thought you already did that" shin responded but Taiki answered, "I was but my phone died" So they ended up waiting.

"Where are you guys, you were supposed to check in; did something happen" Takumi scolded. "Something happened, all right" Taiki said with a sigh. He heard a commotion on the other end of the line. "If I'm not on speaker put me on it" Taiki said, wanting everyone to hear when he gave the good news. "You're on, what is it" Takumi said worriedly. "We are at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center" he took a breath. "We found Mizuki, but…" he hesitated, "What" Takumi said worried they'd say it was too late. "She's ICU right now; they're doing a lot of tests; they said it doesn't look good and we aren't allowed in while she is in ICU. Well Mr. Ashiya and Shizuki can go in because they are her father and brother but they are the only ones." He finished explaining. "We're on our way" he sounded hurriedly.


	5. Amnesia

Chapter 5: Amnesia

Everyone waited outside ICU. It has been a week since Sano carried Mizuki out of the burning building and she was still unconscious. "Finally found you" said Sano Kasumi. "I finally got here and heard that Mizuki had been found but it was a lot harder to find out which hospital she was in since the police and paramedics didn't want everyone in town visiting her." She walked over to her husband and sat down next to him, "how is she" Mrs. Sano asked. "We don't know" Mr. Sano replied grimly. Just then one of the doctors came out, it seemed as though everyone was holding their breath in anticipation.

"She's still unconscious." He started, "the thing is she is she might not be so bad know if she hadn't inhaled so much smoke in the cabin. We don't know when she'll wake up but the good news is her vitals have returned to normal, so she should wake up soon" there was a unified sigh of relief. Taiki spoke up, "I don't mean to be negative right now but we don't know what happened to Kurasora, so he may be back. I don't know about you but it seems too soon to relax" Sano nodded in agreement.

While they continued their conversation in the waiting room, Mizuki awoke just as the doctor said. "Where am I?" she asked the nurse who was still in the room. "You're in the hospital, dear" the nurse said kindly, "you've been out for quite a while and gave every one a huge scare; I should probably go tell them you woke up" but before she could get to the door Mizuki asked another question. "Who are you?" She asked "I'm your nurse; my name is Emily Kurtz, you can call me Emily, 'kay" Mizuki nodded then spoke again, "you obviously know who you are; but could you tell me who I am?" The nurse was shocked, "you're Mizuki Ashiya" she said, "you were…" but trailed off, she couldn't decide whether or not to tell her about the attack so she decided against it. The last thing Mizuki needed at this moment was more stress, especially since the attacker had not been apprehended yet. "just wait here," she told Mizuki. I am going to go tell the doctor you've woken up." She walked out of the room and to the waiting room. As soon as she made it to the waiting room, before she could say a word everyone heard "uwaa" come from Mizuki's room. It wasn't a scared sound, it sounded surprised or amazed. They all rushed in and Mizuki was staring out the window; it was snowing. "It's snowing" she said aloud. "Mizuki!" Shizuki said yelled as he ran up and hugged her from behind. She was startled from the sudden contact and pulled away, "who are you" she said suddenly. Shizuki was shocked. "That was what I went out to tell you" the nurse butted in. "Mizuki has amnesia; she didn't even know who she was when she woke up" everyone was quiet as the nurse walked up to Mizuki, making sure to stay in her sight so she wouldn't be surprising Mizuki. She gently touched Mizuki's shoulder and then motioned to Shizuki, "Mizuki-chan this is your brother Shizuki okay." Mizuki nodded. Mizuki began to look around at all the unfamiliar, beginning to feel overwhelmed. Her eyes fell on Sano and everyone noticed but she quickly looked away. Her heart was skipping a beat but she had no clue why. Mr. Ashiya stepped forward and took her hand, "Mizuki" he said gently with tears in his eyes, "I'm your father and I want to take you home." But she wouldn't get to go home at least not yet. "Sorry but we need to run some tests." The doctor interrupted. "Could you all go wait in the other room" he asked and they did as he said.

After a half hour, the doctor ran out of the room. "I swear I don't know what happened." Mizuki could be heard screaming from the room. Everyone ran in to see what was the matter was. She was gripping her head yelling over and over again, "don't hurt me don't hurt me" "what happened; what did you do to her!" Mr. Ashiya yelled at the doctor. "I told you I was just running some tests" the doctor retorted defensively. "I was just checking her reaction to light and she freaked" "It was the flashlight" Taiki interjected. "Remember when I told you about the nightmare when I saw what was happening to Mizuki. The murderer was carrying a flashlight, because of the dark hallways. As soon as he got in the room the light was shone right in her eyes. I'm sure that happened daily, so it's probably a conditioned response." Mizuki had stopped screaming but remained crouched on the floor trembling. Julia walked over to her, cupping her hands over Mizuki's, "It's alright no one is going to hurt you anymore" Julia released her hands and pulled her in for a hug, "you're okay now" she pulled away from the hug and introduced herself, "by the way, my name's Julia and I'm your best friend" she finished with a wink. Mizuki smiled, "thank you" she said meekly. "Well, I guess I finished all the tests," the doctor said, "it's up to you whether you want to send her to psychiatric or not" "no more" Mr. Ashiya said sternly, "she is coming home." He walked over to Mizuki and held out his hand, "Mizuki?" he questioned and she took his hand and nodded. She was going home.

When she got there her mom was already waiting. Mizuki didn't have to be introduced; she could figure it out by now. This woman was her mother whether she remembered her or not. "Mom?" she asked to be sure, "that's right" he mom said with a smile and ran up to hug her. Mizuki was shown to her room after all the other introductions were made and most of the others went to go pack up to leave the next day. Sano was not about to leave things the way they were. He was glad Mizuki was safe at the moment but Kurasora was still out there and Mizuki's mind was so mixed up the murderer could come up to her in the streets and she'd just say "hi." He wouldn't leave until either her memory came back or the murderer was gone.

Mizuki tried her best to sleep but at midnight she became restless after being startled awake. The house was dark but she felt her way around until she saw a dim light. She followed it as best she could and came to the living room where she saw someone sitting on the couch by the lamp. "Sano," she said in a hesitant whisper. He turned around to face her, "what's up" he said as she walked downstairs, "mind if I join you?" she asked "sure" he answered as if she needn't have asked. "It's your house after all" She sat down on the opposite side of the couch rather than right next to him. "why'd you sit so far away" Sano asked bringing attention to it and Mizuki scooted a little closer. Mizuki was wearing her usual sleepwear, shorts and a tank top. "Why do I call you by your last name" she suddenly asked. He was surprised by her question. He was so used to it he didn't even think about that. "I don't know" he responded, "you just always have. Maybe, it's because of the way names are worded in America. You grew up here where they would normally call me Izumi Sano but in Japan I'm called Sano Izumi. So maybe you thought it was my first or something like that" Mizuki was getting confused. "Sano Izumi, Izumi Sano" She said getting tongue tied, then stopped, "for some reason I think I still want to call you Sano, Izumi just doesn't sound right when I say it" she giggled. "So are you going to tell me what woke you up" Sano asked concernedly. Mizuki seemed to fidget, "I couldn't breathe" she said plainly, bringing her knees up to her chest, hugging them as tears fell from her eyes, "there was so much fire; it was so hot." Sano knew what she was talking about; she had a nightmare about the cabin "don't worry" he said, "You're safe here." Pulling her body to his and holding her tight. She fell asleep in his arms and he carried her back upstairs to her bed. He laid her in the bed, bent over, and kissed her. "Please remember me," he said softly. Then went downstairs and slept on the couch.

The next morning everyone was downstairs saying there good byes. Shin didn't want to leave either but the others had to get back to school or risk expulsion. Sano was willing to risk it but no one else could chance it and the excuse that Mizuki was kidnapped had ran out. They were all waiting for Mizuki to come out of her room so they could say good byes. The people staying were Sano, Shin, Mr. Sano, and Mrs. Sano; everyone else was going back to Japan. Io made sure that Mr. Ashiya would keep her posted with anything that happened with Mizuki. Mizuki came out of her room but once she did everyone was speechless they had meant to say goodbye but the majority of them hadn't seen Mizuki in normal girls clothes, they had seen her as Alice during the school festival and as a girl during the dance, but this was on a whole other level. She came out with her bangs pushed out of her hair by barrettes, wearing short jean shorts and a gorgeous flowing shirt that was tight below her chest accentuating her curves, however small they may be. She paused when she saw the looks she was getting, "does it look that weird" she asked but everyone shook their heads simultaneously, while Io nodded in approval, "you look great." Mizuki made it downstairs and everyone said their goodbyes, however three steps from the door, Nakatsu turned and declared he wouldn't leave until he knew Mizuki was safe also and that was that.


	6. Judging a Book by its cover

Chapter 6: Judging a book by its cover

Days went by and nothing seemed to be changing. Everyone began to wonder if Mizuki would ever get her memory back. They gave her a tour of the town and showed her all their old photo albums and video's from when she was little. "I'm sorry" she said after every attempt to return her memories. She got tired of letting everyone down so minutes before they were about to try something new to jog her memories she bolted out the backdoor while no one was looking. It only took one minute before everyone noticed but with her speed there was no way to catch up, "I will remember," She told herself, "the people who care so much about me and remember so much about me; I will remember them." She ran until she felt she could no more and then she walked for quite a ways more. When she finally took note of her surroundings she saw a school and before she knew it she was walking towards it. Once inside, she heard some noises. It was already four o' clock so she figured it must be some club practicing. She found herself curious to see who though; she walked just around the corner and saw "the high jump" she whispered to herself. She didn't know why her whole body filled with joy at just the mention of those words. She leaned up against the fence gripping it and watched until practice was over, but to her eyes something seemed to be missing.

"Mizuki-chan" she heard someone say from behind. There was a man with a hoodie and sunglasses. "I tried to come see you when you got out of the hospital but your house was packed," he said with a grin. "I know you" she said with hesitant certainty. She did in fact know him but she couldn't think from where. She couldn't see his face that well but his voice she recalled. Perhaps she knew his voice, because it was the last thing she heard before she was knocked unconscious and left to die in the burning building, not that she would know that. "Nice to meet you," she said "what's your name?" "Keito" he lied using his brother's name, "We've been in class together for years." With or without her memory his real name may have brought up some red flags but Keito's name didn't. "Why are you all by yourself; is anyone else nearby?" he asked seemingly concerned. She shook her head, "I'm nothing but a disappointment, no matter how hard they try I can't seem to remember anything. I just don't want to cause them any more trouble so I thought I'd try some stuff on my own." She said. He put his arm around her shoulders sending shudders down her spine, "mind if I help?" he asked masking the slyness in his tone, "I know the perfect place to jog your memory," he said taking her hand. If she had her memory she would have learned her lesson after Makita but she didn't know better and followed him. He took her down several alleyways, avoiding any populated streets. "Where are we going" Mizuki asked started to wish she had stayed behind, "Why are we going down all these alleyways" A knot was forming in the pit of her stomach and Kurasora wasn't saying a word. She started glancing over her shoulder, "I think I want to go back, Sano must be…" she was cut off. Kurasora grabbed her wrist, "What about Sano?" he asked. Mizuki froze; what had she gotten herself into, why did she leave her house, and most important why couldn't she remember and last of all did Keito (really Kurasora Tokio) have something to do with it. "Let me go" She yelled as she tried to struggle. He covered her mouth, "What do you know about Sano?" he asked moving his hand so she could respond, "he's my friend" she said sternly. But Kurasora didn't seem shaken at all. He smiled as gently as possible for him, "Is that what you _know_ or is that what they _told_ you." He saw her stern look vanish, knowing he had shaken her faith he continued. "To tell you the truth, it's their fault you lost your memory," he said with complete seriousness, "they were manipulative and forced you into all sorts of stuff; you were miserable. That must be why you blocked it out." Mizuki seemed to be staring into space, trying to place her thoughts. "What, what are you thinking" Kurasora asked after gaging her reaction, "I-I don't know" she stammered, "I-I'm so confused" she started wiping tears from her eyes. Kurasora took her hands gently into his. "Don't worry, I'll help you" he said comfortingly. "Now come with me, he tugged her gently to coax her into following him. It worked. She followed.

"Mizuki!" her name hung in the air with every shout. The hunt was on again. "Where could she be" Shin yelled to himself out of frustration. "Shin" Sano said getting his attention, "have you asked everyone in this area," "I've tried, but how am I supposed to understand everything they say; I haven't taken English as long as you have and my grades aren't straight A's like yours" He was getting snippy after so long with no results, "I don't get straight A's" Sano said, "and besides that has nothing to do with this right now." He scolded his brother. "What's the matter Sano brothers" a voice unknown to Shin and all but welcome by Sano came out of nowhere, "not him, not now" Sano thought to himself. "We don't have time for you Akiha" Sano said angered by his disturbance. "I was just here for a photo shoot I was supposed to do. What happened to Mizuki? She gone missing?" "yes, so we don't have time for idle chit chat right now, so if you'll excuse me" Sano said as he started to walk away, but Akiha refused to let him get the last word in. "it's strange that she's missing, because I saw her quite a while ago." "What?" Sano and Shin yelled. "Yeah" Akiha answered, "She walked into a school; seemed like she was in the middle of something so I didn't bug her; why what happened." "Mizuki has amnesia" Shin answered and Sano added, "and to make matters work there's someone targeting her right now, so if you value _your_ life you will take us to where you saw her." "but that was a couple hours ago that I saw her; she probably isn't even there now." "it will give us somewhere to start" Sano reasoned plainly. "This way" Akiha motioned. And Shin took out his phone to call the Mr. and Mrs. Ashiya.

They got to the school and everyone was buzzing. "you seriously saw her" "I thought she was going to be out of school for a long time" "I heard she had amnesia" "who comes to school when they don't have to" The whispers continued. Sano went up to a group of people, "have you seen Mizuki Ashiya?" he asked. "yeah" they answered "but she left a while ago, with some guy in a hoodie. I couldn't hear much but, she said something about disappointing people or something and he said he wanted to help her and then they left" Sano's fists were clenched so hard he was practically shaking and scared the girls when he suddenly rose his head and yelled, "that idiot!" and ran off followed by Shin and Akiha. "Where are you going you don't know where she is" Akiha yelled after him. "I can't just stand around," he yelled "besides, he knows we would be looking for her so we at least know that he has to have used back streets." They couldn't argue with that logic.


	7. The Bridge

Chapter 7: The Bridge

"This way" Mizuki was led by her hand. She still had yet to see the man's face thanks to the hoodie and sunglasses. "Will you tell me where we're going now?" She asked sounding impatient and stubborn. "You'll see, you'll remember, and everything will become clear," he said cheerfully. In his mind, he learned from his mistakes. He stayed in one place to long and waited too long before he attempted to finish her off; this time no one would be able to stop him. His brother had died the same day Mizuki turned him down and he won't let anyone tell him it was a coincidence. Every last person he asked what had happened told him it was an accident, but he believed that was them protecting the bitch's feeling when she forced him to suicide.

Meanwhile, Nakatsu caught up with Shin and Sano. Also, he was probably more surprised than anyone that Akiha was there. Shin got a call from his mom, "Shin, do you have any clue where you guys are headed right now" She inquired. "No," he replied, "all we know is that we are trying to find Kurasora" "Okay, well I may have an idea where he is on his way to" "What?" Shin yelled stopping in his tracks. "Sano!" he yelled getting him to stop running, "Mom says she may have an idea where Mizuki is." "Where?" Sano asked, "Hold on a second" Shin said as he put his phone on speaker. "where do you think she might be" Shin asked. "I asked around" Mrs. Sano began, "apparently Kurasora's brother Keito confessed his love to Mizuki and was turned down. That same day he accidentally fell off of a bridge; Kurasora was positive that it was Mizuki's fault. He may be taking Mizuki to the bridge." "'Kay we are close already" And they took off again. "Akiha" Sano said as they started running. "you better not get in our way" he reminded and Akiha put on an appalled façade, like he couldn't believe Sano would think he'd get in the way. But in reality Sano's disliked him for a long time and he's used to it.

They reached the bridge in a matter of minutes and just as Mrs. Sano told them he was there.

"See how beautiful this view is," Kurasora asked Mizuki. She nodded and he continued, "it was the last thing my brother saw before he died." He looked over at Mizuki who looked back to him still oblivious to everyone racing across the bridge to them. There was a long pause, "What was his name?" She asked. He answered truthfully this time, "his name was Keito" Mizuki took a step back and he grabbed her wrist. "But you said your name was…" "I lied" he cut her off, "My names Tokito Kurasora but most people just call me Kurasora" His name rang bells in her ears and an unbelievable fear ran through her entire body. Sano and everyone were almost there when Kurasora said to Mizuki "My brother died here and you're next." He pushed her off the bridge and Sano jumped after her while the other three: Shin, Nakatsu, and Akiha finally got ahold of the guy and proceeded to kick his ass.

Mizuki hit the water followed by Sano. Sano swam as fast as he could but it seemed as though he wouldn't be able to catch but he reached as far as possible and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to him and swam upward. He swam to the edge and Mizuki wasn't breathing. Mr. Ashiya finally caught up and made it over to where Sano was with Mizuki. He performed CPR on Mizuki. After fifteen reps she started coughing up water. "Dad," She mumbled. "it's okay. I'm here" he said comforting her as any good father would. "Don't run off like that ever again" he said as he held her tight with Sano sitting beside him. "Sorry, but I have to go call your mother" He handed her over to Sano. The cops had arrived but rather than go to jail, Kurasora jumped off the bridge himself and drowned. Mizuki mumbled something under her breath, "What is it" Sano asked. So she repeated herself, "you held me like this before didn't you; at the Hayama Chalet." He had to do a double take, "what?" He said shocked. "Don't you remember?" She asked, "you told me, 'I will always stay by your side'" Sano smiled and began to laugh. "Thank God" He said. And they sat there together till the sunset. The Danger was finally gone.


End file.
